National Endowment for the Arts Announced “2012 Our Town Grants” awards this week. With 317 applications for funding requests, Nevada County Arts was one of only 80 projects that received funding nationwide with only four in California. National Endowment for the Arts reported, “the goal of the grantee projects will improve quality of life, encourage creative activity, create community identity and a sense of place, and help revitalize local economies.”

Nevada County Arts (NCArts) will use the grant to fund the ART OnSite/Tribute Trail. NCArts is partnering with the City of Nevada City, along with more than 15 conservation groups, cultural organizations, and educational institutions on the project. ART OnSite will commission and install as many as 10 environmentally based temporary public artworks along the Deer Creek Tribute Trail, a recently completed nine-mile river parkway that links Nevada City’s downtown historic and economic area with the surrounding natural features.